


Rendezvous

by Snelly_ESQ



Series: Hunted [1]
Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snelly_ESQ/pseuds/Snelly_ESQ
Summary: The gang has found themselves united again, and with a battle plan; recruit some pirates and take the war to Salem! But after an attack by bounty hunters, they find themselves separated yet again. The light prologue to the new Hunted series!
Series: Hunted [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149248
Kudos: 2





	Rendezvous

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a pending series of rwby fanfictions. It's recommended that you read this one first, but the others will be readable out of order when they're released.This series is canon divergent, and takes place somewhere within Volume 8.

_ “...And I to my pledged word am true, _

_ I shall not fail that rendezvous.” _

_ Alan Seeger, I Have a Rendezvous with Death _

“I’m just glad to be somewhat...normal again.” Ruby said. She was walking towards the airships. 

“I’m amazed we even  _ found  _ them.” Weiss replied. “And to think, they were just out in an abandoned barn some place.” Weiss smiled as she saw the others walk closer. 

The group had been...separate. For a while. Between what could feasibly be called ‘creative’ differences and other disputes, the bunch were lucky to even get this close to one another. Ruby, Weiss, Nora, and Blake had been in relatively safe digs for the past couple of days. Penny was with them, too. 

“We’re going to meet up with Jaune first.” Penny explained. “He’s going to make sure it’s us and not tricksters.” 

“Sounds like a deal!” Ruby smiled, and saw, in the distance…

“JAUNE!” Ruby rushed over to hug Jaune, just glad to know he was alright. Weiss blushed a bit when she saw that. Jaune hugged back, and smiled. “Ruby! Guys!” He hugged them all, a stiff, sturdy hug that must’ve cracked a few joints in their backs. “Blake! Yang’s been thinking about you...it took me a while to figure that one out.” He scratched his head. “I, uhm...I’m not known for my brains, y’know.” 

“Is Yang okay?” Blake asked. 

“She’s fine.” 

Blake sighed with relief. “Thank goodness...you said she was thinking about me?”

“She misses you a lot.” Jaune patted Blake’s shoulder. 

“What about Ren?” Nora asked, limping a little, covered in bizarre marks. “Is he talking about me? Does he miss me?” 

“What...what happened to-” He shook his head. “Nevermind. About him, he’s been...interesting to deal with.” 

“...oh.” Nora knew that it was a Jaune way of saying ‘no’. She sighed and walked with him. “I’m so glad you’re okay, though.” She said. “I dunno what I would do with myself if you weren’t!”

For a brief moment, a very brief moment, it all seemed like it was going to be okay.

And as they saw, really, actually  _ saw,  _ Ren, Yang, and…

Where was Oscar?

“Where’s Oscar?” Ruby asked. 

“Gee, sis, good to see you too.” Yang remarked, crossing her arms. 

“He’s important, Yang!” 

“Ruby,” Yang sighed, “We don’t know  _ where  _ he is. We found Jaune but the last place he saw him was-”

“You left  _ Jaune  _ in charge of Oscar?” Weiss rolled her eyes. “No  _ wonder  _ he’s missing.” 

“Hey!” Jaune grunted. “I’m not that bad at this!”

Weiss shook her head. “We’re not doing this here.” She said. “We have to be careful. We can argue about this later.” 

Nora rushed to Ren. She hugged him tightly. “REN!” She picked him up, and twirled him around. He held on so he wouldn’t fall, but...that was it. His expression was...even  _ less  _ excited than what she’d expected. “...Ren?”

“It’s…” He ran a hand over her arm, looking at the odd marks in awkwardly done patterns, stretching and dancing along her arm. 

“It’s good to know you’re safe.” 

“I…” Nora nodded. “It’s good to know you’re safe, too.” Nora thought for a moment about the way he’d  _ said  _ that. ‘It’s good to know you’re safe’. The hell was that supposed to mean? She knew he was mellow, but just... _ that? _

“We need to be quick,” Ruby explained, “But I have a connection to someone in Shoalmouth, on Vytal Island.” She smiled. “It’s in that little bay on the north end, the one guarded by two islands?” 

“Isn’t that place crawling with sky pirates?” 

Ruby smirked. “Who do you think got us employed?” She winked. “I’m gonna be making weapons, and we’re gonna get in good, recruit them as reinforcements, and-”

BANG!

A  _ massive  _ explosion. Their ears rang, and their bodies hit the ground from the shockwave. Blake felt a searing pain in her arm, but also felt yang’s hand holding hers. She rushed to one of the airships. Another airship was heavily damaged, but Ren, Nora, and Penny got loaded onto it. Jaune rushed for Weiss, but as soon as people in black and gray uniforms came, she shouted at him. 

“Go!”

“Weiss, I-”

“JAUNE ARC, GO!” Without a second thought, he ran. 

* * *

On the undamaged airship, Yang bandaged up Blake’s arm. 

“What the hell was that!?” Ruby asked. A pilot spoke. 

“Bounty hunters. I’ve seen those jackets before. Looks like they got Weiss.” 

“They GOT Weiss!?” She huffed. “I..we...we have to get down there!”

“If we go back down there we’re dead meat!” 

“We HAVE t-”

“RUBY.” Yang looked her dead in the eye. “...If anyone can survive anything, it’s Weiss.” 

“They’ll kill her, they-”

“She’s too clever.” Blake said. “I...we’ll find her. I promise.” 

Ruby sighed, tears forming in her eyes. She just...stared at the wall. 

“Ruby?” Yang looked over. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“It’s my birthday, Yang.” She said. “I...it’s my 18th birthday.” She looked down at her hands, and sighed. “I’m 18 years old. I-it’s funny, in all the chaos of this, I just sort of forgot.” 

“...happy birthday.” Blake said. She smiled at Ruby, putting a hand on her shoulder. Yang pulled Ruby into a tight hug, and patted her back, stiffly, with her metal arm. “You’re a good kid, Ruby. You’re gonna be alright.” She said. “How’d You, the most birthday loving person, forget about your birthday?” 

“Well it’s been a bit  _ tense _ , hasn’t it?” Ruby asked in protest. 

“I know.” Yang said. “And you’re doing really well through it.” She looked Ruby in the eye. “I’m proud of you.” 

Ruby just burst into tears. She couldn’t handle it anymore. She’d just gotten  _ everyone  _ back. And now it was all just gone again. It’d taken weeks to orchestrate this, but they got headed off at the pass or some shit like that and now it was all back to square one, with no Weiss, no Penny, nothing but her, Blake, Yang, and a pirate captain she was due to meet. 

_ Some opposing army, _ huh? 

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other airship, things weren’t going so well, either. Ren and Nora managed to work their way inside of it, and at the very least, get a few miles from the rendezvous point. “This isn’t good.” Ren huffed, trying to be heard over the warning sirens. “How much longer can you keep her up!?”

“We think if the weather’s good we can for sure make it to Vespa.” 

“What’s Vespa?” Nora asked. 

“Used to be a resort town, now it’s just kind of an island. We’ll be safe there, and it’s got radio equipment on it. It’s a common diversion.” 

“Then get there!” Nora shouted. 

“We’ll do our best!” 

Nora sat down, and her breathing became labored and nervous. She looked up at Ren. He spoke. 

“We should turn back.” 

“Ren, we are  _ not  _ turning back.” 

“If we go back we could find Osc-”

“If we go back there they’ll shoot us down and turn our remains in for a million Lien  _ each.”  _ She gripped his hand. “Ren. We have to  _ commit. _ ” 

Penny, knowing a bad situation when she saw one, stayed out of it for now, and took a look outside when they were further away from the shore, to assess the damage of the craft. 

“...okay.” He said. “We’ll commit.” He looked away from her. 

“...what’s gotten into you, anyway?” 

“What’s gotten into  _ you? _ ” 

“What sort of soap opera answer is that!?” Nora stood. “Ren, what’s the matter? You’re not, like, scared this isn’t real or something are you?”

Ren could tell she was feeling tense. “Look, Nora, I know you’re optimistic, and I know that we’re on the way to winning here, but we’re not going to really make it. You don’t really think we’re gonna-”

“Good news!” Penny swooped in just in time, but easily sensed the tension in the room. She spoke. “The secondary hydraulic system has no leaks at the apparent contact site. The ETOPS estimate places us well within range to get to Vespa.” She smiled and nodded. 

“...see?” Nora looked at Ren. “I dunno what happened to you down there.” She held his hand. “And...I don’t know if you thought I-” 

“I...need to try and rest.” He looked away. Nora teared up, and did her best to stifle tears, but Penny gave her a stiff, strong hug. “He’s tired, and scared.” She said. “I think. Most humans would be in this situation, wouldn’t they?” 

“Yeah.” Nora said. “Yeah, they would.” 

* * *

Jaune managed to evade the bounty hunters. He huffed and wheezed, catching his breath. He found a small port of call and just hopped onto the first thing he could. He sighed. “What is this?” 

“It’s a ferry to Porla, in south central Vale.” 

“How much for a ticket?” 

“Well, I need a bit more than just the  _ money,  _ there’s security concerns I-”

“Here’s 200 Lien.  _ Keep the change. _ ” Jaune normally wouldn’t bribe people, especially with his financial situation being so...limiting, but he had to get away from here. 

“...right this way. Cabin b2 is open for you, mister...” 

“Smith.” 

He was handed a ticket with a wink and a nod. 

Where the  _ hell  _ was he headed? And why did this always happen to him? Every single time he tried  _ anything,  _ it blew up in his face. Sometimes, quite literally, it turns out. He was the one who managed to secure the rendezvous point,  _ he  _ was the one who was supposed to be in charge of Oscar,  _ he  _ was supposed to keep p-

That was  _ ages  _ ago. He had to stop dwelling on that. He had to let go. It’s what she would’ve wanted. He rubbed his eyes, and was finally hearing better after the explosion. He grumbled, and sat on a bench on the ferry. No doubt, wherever he’d end up, he’d get himself and anyone around him killed. ‘All my life,’ he thought, ‘I’ve been told to be someone I can’t be’. Not everyone can just wake up one day and be a warrior, or a leader. And yet, here he was, expecting to wake up tomorrow, and take care of himself in a place where he’d have to do  _ something  _ to get to Shoalmouth. 

He hoped that whenever he’d die, he’d die quick. 

* * *

Up at the rendezvous point, the smoke was beginning to settle. Weiss was lying on the ground. She just...laid there. She was tired. She’d been fighting for years, with abusive and neglectful parents and bad siblings and poor people skills and so many damned apocalypses she’d lost count. She wouldn’t give them anything. 

But she was just so  _ tired _ . 

She let the bounty hunters restrain her, and walk her to the car they had. She let them put the cowl over her head. She let them shuffled her into a building. 

“Got her?”

“Only her...others escaped.” 

“We’ll make sure you get the money.” She was walked down a hallway, and the cowl was kept on. 

“...hey, that looks like We-”

“Shut up.” The man who was silenced sounded almost like Qrow. The cowl was lifted, and she was shoved into a white room, with no windows, a bright light, white furniture, and nothing else. 

She heard the door open, In walked Ironwood. 

“...what do you want from me?” 

Ironwood’s nose looked like it’d just bled. He sat down across from her. 

“I want answers.” He had wild eyes, too, and stared her down like a spider staring down its prey as it calculates its leap. “And I’m going to get them.” 

“You won’t get  _ shit _ , Jimmy.” She spat in his face. 

“I’ll get what I  _ want!”  _ He yelled. James Ironwood, ever the calm, collected man...yelled. It wasn't a yell as much as it was a shout, more edged and louder. He slammed his hand down on the desk. “...I wanna know where your friends are headed.”


End file.
